Six high speed 180kW DC  fast charge stations from Singapore en route to Kuala Lumpur and Penang, can juice up a Porsche Taycan to 80 percent in half an hour

SINGAPORE 

Porsche Asia Pacific and Shell announced today a joint implementation of a new fast charge network for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) stretching from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and Penang. 

The companies term it the ‘first cross-country high performance EV charging network in Southeast Asia’, but more importantly, the network will use the fastest chargers available to date for BEV public charging, capable of 180kW DC fast charging which is the fastest available to date. 

The network will consist of six charge stations with 12 charge points. Four stations will be ready in the second half of this year, with two more stations coming in the first half of next year.

The locations of the charge stations are shown in the graphic below, and include familiar stops for those who travel northward, such as the Tangkak Layby, Seremban R&R, and Simpang Pulai. Additionally, 175kW fast chargers will be available at four Porsche Centres in Malaysia. 

The charge stations will be open to all owners of BEVS with the compatible Type 2 CCS plug, though Porsche owners will have benefits such as being able to reserve the fast chargers in advance with an app, and discounts on Shell Select food and beverage. 

We’ve tested Porsche’s first BEV, the Taycan, right here in Singapore

With 180kW direct current (DC) fast charging, Porsche says its Taycan sedan will be able to go from zero to 80 percent charge in just half an hour. With the Taycan 4S we tested, that would mean a quoted range of 331km, which is enough to get you from Singapore to the outskirts of KL.

180kW DC chargers will also be the fastest fast chargers available in Singapore or Malaysia, to date. Singapore’s fastest DC chargers are 50kW units, available at the SP network and the Shell Recharge network. Comfort Delgro aims to roll out 100kW fast chargers in Singapore in July this year.  

One quibble is that each charge station has a max output of 180kW, but split across two charge points. Thus if two cars are charging at once, the maximum charge rate is halved, to 90kW. 

Not all BEVs will benefit from the full 180kW rate, though: the Porsche Taycan is capable of the fastest charging possible for current BEVs, since it can handle up to a 270kW charge rate. Tesla’s Supercharger is close, at 250kW. Besides the Taycan, luxury BEVs can typically handle 150kW, as is the case with the Audi E-Tron. 

The charge network will be integrated into Shell’s own charge network here in Singapore, which consists of 18 Shell Recharge stations (50kW charge rate) and 87 Greenlots charge points (non-fast charge), plus 18 “Reserve + Shell Recharge” charge points in Malaysia. Shell owns charge provider Greenlots, having bought it over in early 2019. The energy company says it is accelerating its ‘transformation into a provider of net-zero emissions energy products’ and wants to offer half a million charge stations by 2025, globally. Earlier, Porsche and Shell announced lower-carbon racing biofuel for the Porsche Cup series overseas. 

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